Chapter 171 - (171) Forgot To Struggle

With the Direwolves falling back, Geth had the chance to look at his remaining Taming Formations.

Three of the Formations had finished forming. The cage bars closed in and created a cylinder similar to what captured his Skeletons.

Five Direwolves were still struggling in the Taming Formations. Of the seven that had broken free, two had already been defeated.

Geth switched his Curse Skill to the next target with the highest Level. The stunned wolf faltered long enough to receive a head-on hit from Zolis.

The mighty axe slammed down. The sheer pressure caused the ground below the beast to split in two.

Geth was amazed at the resilience of the monster. Even with the Level difference, a blade to the skull should have caused more damage.

'They are using a Skill,' Albus informed him.

"Huh?"

Geth looked closely at the next wolf that jumped at him. He used his Foresight and high Wisdom to spend as much time studying the creature as possible.

'I see it!'

A thin silver film surrounded the wolf's body. It was much like the same barrier that the Protection spell provided.

Albus responded, 'Good. I noticed that it thinned slightly with the death of each wolf. I believe it's some type of passive that only works when there are so many in a certain area.'

Geth was enlightened, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. The most that his party could do was beat them down one at a time.

'Focus on the same target as the others. I can stall these three,' Geth sent a mental message to his Skeleton.

The arrow that had just been fired changed direction and rocketed towards a weakened wolf. The arrow pierced through one of its rear thighs, causing critical damage to its leg.

Geth maintained his Curse on that Direwolf while dodging the three in front of him. His Foresight gave him an edge, but there were still some moments that he was caught due to the difference in Agility.

Even then, his wounds were healed before another hit could land. The worst hit took a solid thousand health from his Protection barrier.

'This wouldn't be going so well in an open area,' Geth looked around at the wolves struggling to flank his comrades.

The path that they stood on could only wasn't vast. Only three Direwolves could walk abreast, but only two could fight simultaneously.

The Direwolves separated Geth from his party, only allowing him to assist from a range. Two of the ensnared wolves were close to freeing themselves.

'I need to create some distance,' Geth decided.

He started backing up slowly as if he were afraid of the Direwolves in front of him. It wasn't the best act he'd put on, but it was enough to fool the animals in the heat of battle.

The Direwolves became more aggressive. With every step, he had to contend with another swing from their claws.

On the other side of the battlefield, Swole was somewhat holding his own against the weakest of the wolves. The rest of the party was almost through engaging the other.

'They are doing fine. I'll speed this up.'

Geth sped up his retreat, quickly covering over ten yards. The wolves pursued him relentlessly, teeth and claws constantly lashing out.

A few well-placed swipes caused him to stagger back. Air came from the claws like blades, something he hadn't been expecting.

His shield completely shattered. Thanks to his Spell Reflection Talent, those spells had rebounded back to the Direwolf who cast it!

They only caused a few hundred damage apiece, but it was more than enough to stun the brute. It gave Geth enough time to comfortably step back a few more feet.

'This should be fine.' 

Just as he had that thought, the two struggling Direwolves burst from their cages. One sprinted straight toward where Geth was fighting.

The other turned and began to bash one of the other Taming Formations from the outside. Cracks quickly started to form in the solid cylindrical walls.

"Shit! Someone stop that wolf!" Geth yelled as loudly as he could, hoping that the others could hear over the sound of explosions. "Albus, tell them quickly!"

Geth double-checked the distance and cast Corruption Blast at his feet. A blast of dark-purple gas spread out in a nineteen-foot radius from the impact.

180 health instantly drained from the four Direwolves in front of him. The smoke dispersed quickly, making him worry for a moment that the damage was just on impact.

He was relieved to find that all four Direwolves that were in the blast radius had been affected by the Corruption. The damage has also increased to every two seconds.

He continued to back away from the wolves, leading them further from the pack. After another seven yards, the thin aura layering the wolves vanished.

'A range of 50 feet and at least 5 members in a pack for their aura to function,' Geth made sure to tuck that information away for safekeeping.

He started alternating between dodging and bashing the front two wolves with his staff. With a well-timed Time Delay on one of the beasts, he could force their attacks to hit each other.

Every attack that hit him reflected back a minute amount of 15-20 damage. However, the spells that reflected off of his person began to tear into the beasts' hides.

The wolves took an extra hundred damage or more with each reflected air blast or molten claw. Geth turned his Curse toward one of his own attackers after the party had finished off their target.

With the massive reduction in Agility, it became a simple task to toy with the creature. The two Direwolves in the back became frustrated with not being able to force themselves around their weakened brethren.

Thanks to their ranged attacks bouncing off of him, it was easy to whittle down the HP of the two up front. He continued to dance around their physical attacks while allowing the spells to hit him.

Anyone who was watching Geth's display would simply think that he'd forgotten to struggle.